1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of accessories intended to be fitted on portable communicating terminals in order to make them suitable for applying specific functions.
More particularly, the present invention relates to the accessories intended to be used in combination with portable communicating terminals fitted out with means for processing and acquiring images such as for example smart telephones, called <<smartphones>>, equipped with movie or still cameras or even personal electronic assistants, called <<PDAs>>, also fitted out with movie or still cameras.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such portable communication terminals are relatively inexpensive means for acquiring images which are generally considered as being of medium quality, or of even low quality, because of the resolution of the sensors used. However, in spite of this low quality reputation of the images obtained with the movie or still cameras integrated into mobile telephones or personal digital assistants, the merit of the inventors was to demonstrate that it was possible to obtain with these devices, images of sufficient quality in order to allow an analysis of the microscopic or submillimeter geometrical structure of materials or different products in order to be notably able to apply methods for extracting signatures or physical characteristics and methods for applying these signatures as described for example in the patent applications FR2866139, WO200578651, US20052622350, FR2870376.
However, the still or movie cameras fitting out smart telephones or personal electronic assistants are generally designed for making portraits, photographs of landscapes or even photographs indoors, so that their optical system has a set focal distance with which good focusing may be obtained for distances of the order of one meter or larger than one meter. Now, such a focal distance is unsuitable for close shots or so-called macroscopic shots.
Moreover, smart telephones or personal digital assistants fitted out with still cameras only very rarely comprise light sources adapted to photography and assuming that they are fitted out with them, these light sources consist of flashes adapted for illuminating relatively remote and totally unsuitable scenes for close shots.
Thus, there has appeared the need of means for easily making smart telephones or digital assistants fitted out with image-shooting systems, movie or still cameras, usable for obtaining images of microscopic or submillimeter details of various products.